Tango Shoe Divas

Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m a baby Tango Shoe Diva. I’ve danced on and off again for about 4 years but about a year ago I reentered the tango scene with a vengeance and have been working really hard at it ever since. That being said, I  decided about 5 months ago that I was going to graduate from my salsa shoes and finally buy some “pretty shoes”.

Since then, I’ve done much research on many of the styles and brands that are popular these days (many thanks to America, Bastet, and all the other contributors for such great advice), seriously depleted my college student bank account in making purchases, and consequently developed a reputation among my classmates and close friends as a “shoe crazy person” (their words, not mine).  I don’t even have that many shoes! Whatever, if you are reading or contributing to this blog, you know exactly what it’s like to be “shoe crazy”.

I first started with this used pair of Neotangos from a very nice lady on eBay (I LOVE eBay, by the way):

Behold, my first foray into tango shoe shopping! They are beaten up and old (I don’t think NeoTango even makes this style anymore), the insole is red and stains everything, but they were my first and they will always hold a special place in my heart.

I subsequently lost out on another pair of shoes to some powerseller on eBay:

As you can see, they are fabulous and I was very sad I lost the auction at the last second. Incidentally, I recently ran into the exact same pair at a milonga in DC- and they happened to be on the feet of my very MALE DJ friend who was practicing his following! Apparently they were the only pair left in his gigantic size.  And you only can imagine how these looked on a grown man (and of course, I was green with envy and incensed at the cruel irony of it all).

Next, I bought my first pair of Comme il Fauts while living in Atlanta. Katherine of Diva Boutique was in town and brought her enormous shoe trailer (yes, friends, an entire trailer full of CiFs). On the advice of a few people, I bought a simple pair of nude pink leather slingbacks that match everything:

They’re not nearly as white in the picture- more of a very very light pink. I also should probably get the straps cut down but haven’t yet because I am lazy and I don’t know any good cobblers yet up here in DC.

Then my birthday rolled around and I decided that I had a been a good girl and bought THESE off eBay from a fabulous Diva in Seattle for entirely too much money:

They are my FAVORITE- and I am perfectly willing (more…)

I was stalking an ebay auction, for shoes of course… when I saw these:

OMG LOVE!!!!

The heel cage is gorgeous… I covet them greatly! But unfortunately not my size. After I briefly considered whether I could stretch them out (strappy fronts don’t suit me all that well either – but I would have coped if they were my size) I started thinking about which of my friends needed them… because if I couldn’t have them, those shoes simply had to be owned by someone close to me, so I could at least visit them and worship them…

Part of being a true shoe diva is knowing the sizes of half the women in the community (gotta know who the competition is!), what sizes and styles they like, and even their favorite colors. It rapidly struck me… My tenant has been looking for teal shoes forever since she bought and I subsequently stole the blue h**ker shoes she has been searching for a pair of teal shoes. They are even her preferred height (We both have a great love of the 9 cm heel.) These screamed her name!

I promptly emailed her a link to the auction. And then a picture… Her email came back within seconds. (She is a Crackberry Addict)

“Oh Jesus. Those are awesome. I’m at the DMV right now. Boo hiss. Do they have a buy me now option?”

I sent her the buy it now price and the auction details.

“Oh shit. I better get them stat.”

I told her that I could buy it now for her if she wanted… “no problem… need someone to get a good Cif deal!”

To which she responded “Amen, sister.”

Not quite as great as getting a new pair of CiF for myself at a great deal, but it is close, especially when it is for a good friend! I’ve had very good CiF ebay karma and it is good to share!

I don’t have time to do the full run down on Darcos from the last shoe order I made, I just want to share this picture that I saw today while trolling ebay… (yes, even now, at tax season, owing various governments more money than I care to think about, the siren song of tango shoes still calls my name) This picture highlights the problems with Darcos – In general I rather like the shoes. I’m into neutrals and light colors right now and the little bit of a “bling” heel keeps them from being too boring. And there the eye is drawn to the problem… Look at the angle of the heel on the shoe facing away from the camera. The shoe can barely maintain its own axis and says “Please fall down and break and ankle while trying to dance in me!”


None of the shoes that I have bought from Darcos have this, but inconsistency is their biggest problem and it is really dragging down their value when other things are quite good (Style most of the time, padding that is better than CiF most of the time…) I will have to save my BIG Darcos rant for when I have time to take pictures and really go off.

It’s been sooooo long since I bought any new shoes… My last pair were at the beginning of November! That’s almost three months with NO new shoes. I was going into withdrawl. So I splurged… naughty, naughty, naughty. I would try to justify it by the fact that I have a great skirt to go with the first pair, and really no silver stilettos, but really at this point no one believes my rationalizations at all. So I will just shut up and make with the shoe pr0n…

Yes I love them and I hate them, but I can’t stop buying them, it’s Darcos! I need platform shoes, but these are pretty… Now to wait, and wait and wait. I hope they manage to stay a little closer to their advertised timeline this time… Last time it was 10 weeks, I’ll have the tango shoe junkie shakes by then. Now if I can just resist bidding on any of the new pairs they listed today… these especially…

soooo pretty. I don’t have quite that shade of lavender yet. No! Someone else bid on them, pleeeeeaaaaase!